It has been a great day for the ASX with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) up by a staggering 4.28% at the time of writing. While all sectors have performed well, ASX tech shares, in particular, have seen strong share price gains.

Here we look at 4 companies that were among the standout performers.

Wisr Ltd (ASX: WZR)

Small-cap fintech provider, Wisr has seen its share price soar by a massive 32% so far today. It provides online loans for services including debt consolidation, car loans, home renovations, and travel.

Its strong share price rise appears to be linked to a market announcement earlier today. Wisr revealed that new loan originations grew 48% in May 2020, compared to April 2020. This was despite the company maintaining much tighter credit policies during March in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The company was able to deliver a total of $23.1 million in new loans during the months of April and May. Overall growth during May resulted in loan originations returning to levels before the coronavirus pandemic. It also reported that customer support requests have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels.

EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)

EML Payments has seen its share price by 10.3% so far today. The company is an electronics technology solutions provider offering gift and reward cards, pre-paid cards and supplier payments. It manages more than 1,200 card programs across North America, Europe and Australia.

EML payments have diversified its business model via the acquisition of Prepaid Financial Services.

Its share price was hit hard in the early part of the coronavirus crisis. Prior to this period, this tech share been growing strongly for several years.

Easing national lockdown restrictions is starting to stimulate consumers to spend more. This is helping overall demand for card services get back to pre-COVID 19 levels.

The third strong ASX tech share rising today: Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY)

Openpay is a small-cap buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider. Its share price has risen strongly by 13% today. This comes after a wild ride on the ASX over the past week. It suffered heavy share price falls late last week.

This tech share only recently launched on the ASX at the end of 2019. If offers payment plans that range anywhere between 2 and 24 months. Loans provided are for amounts up to the $20,000 mark.

Openpay targets the 3 key markets of automotive, healthcare and home improvement. In comparison, Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) targets the retail sector.

More reading

• Why the Wisr share price is surging 32% higher today
• The Zip Co share price is up 500%. Too late to invest?
• Why Afterpay, Super Retail, Uniti, & Viva Energy are charging higher
• ASX 200 jumps 3%: CBA rebounds, Afterpay hits a new record high
• Afterpay and Zip shares are rocketing higher today: Can they go even higher?

Phil Harpur owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Emerchants Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Emerchants Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price has been in fine form on Tuesday.

In afternoon trade the wine company’s shares are up over 5% to $11.10.

This latest gain means that Treasury Wine’s shares are now up over 13% since this time in May.

Is it too late to buy Treasury Wine shares?

While I see value in its shares for investors that are prepared to make a long term investment, I’m not convinced its shares will go much higher in the short term.

The latter is a view I share with analysts Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker reiterated its neutral rating and $10.30 price target on the wine giant’s shares.

Goldman has been looking at industry data and, although home consumption trends remain strong, it doesn’t see any real reason to get excited.

Based on Nielsen research, the broker commented: “In continuation of the strong double digit growth seen over the past 2 months, wine sales growth was strong at +31.6% for the 4 weeks ended 16th May with underlying volume growth at 27.4%. Treasury wine sales captured also saw strong growth, but again underperformed vs. the market, growing at +16.4% on a volume basis with +3.6% increase in average selling price.”

What about in China?

The broker notes that the weakness in Chinese wine import data continued into April 2020.

Its analysts explained: “Wine import into China in April was down -48.5% with underlying volumes down -47.8%. Import of wine in containers of less than 2L was down -51.5% from Australia with underlying volumes down -45.1%, marginally below the declines seen in March. On a YTD basis, Australian bottled wine imports were down -19.1% on a value basis and -22.9% on a volume basis.”

And while ecommerce platform sales have been strong and offset some of this decline, Goldman notes that relative pricing of its brands in China remain under pressure.

“Of the 12 products surveyed regularly, average prices on the Chinese e-commerce websites remained unchanged MoM for 6 and reduced for 4 in the month of May. On a yoy basis, average price decline for these products were -7.5%,” Goldman added.

What does this mean?

Essentially, the sum of the above will be a level of growth over the coming years that fails to justify its shares trading at a greater premium to the 22x estimated full year earnings they trade at today.

Though, the broker notes that there is upside risk from a recovery of trading in its US operations and earnings enhancing acquisitions. But until that happens, it will be sitting on a neutral rating.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Two perspectives and a Buy recommendation
• Not keen on Westpac? Then buy these top ASX dividend shares instead
• Why didn’t Warren Buffett buy more shares in the recent bear market?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to sell today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Treasury Wine Estates Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Livetiles Ltd (ASX: LVT) share price is up 15% today after the founders issued a shareholder letter. The letter provided a positive update to investors amid the COVID-19 situation. According to the Australian Financial Review, LiveTiles is the fastest-growing technology company in Australia and the fifth-fastest growing company across all industries. 

What does LiveTiles do? 

LiveTiles supplies tools to create dashboards, employee portals, and corporate intranets. Headquartered in New York, LiveTiles has operations across the US, Europe, and Australia. The LiveTiles share price is up more than 116% from its March lows as the increase in remote working promotes interest in its products. 

LifeTiles technology extends to underlying Microsoft platforms such as Office365, Sharepoint, and Azure. The company creates value-adds and enhancements to the underlying platforms that address common business needs and priorities. LiveTiles can be accessed and leveraged by customers through channels such as Microsoft Teams and Internet Explorer. 

What did LiveTiles report?

LiveTiles reported it has a strong medium and long-term outlook. And it added that COVID played a global role in accelerating digital workplace software adoption. Having secured its first paying customer in 2015, LiveTiles now boasts 1,200 enterprise customers and over 1,000 recurring subscription customers. 

Revenue has increased alongside customer numbers. At 31 March 2020, annualised recurring revenue was $55 million. Since inception, LiveTiles has operated as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business with a recurring subscription model. The implied lifetime value of the recurring revenue pool built by LiveTiles has increased 4.9 times over 2 years. Yet the company believes it has only penetrated a little over 1% of its addressable customer pool. These insights are likely a big reason why the LiveTiles share price jumped so high today.

Impact of COVID

There is no doubt that the increase in remote working due to the coronavirus has pushed interest in digital interaction solutions. The pandemic means solutions like those offered by LiveTiles are moving towards “must-have” status compared to a “nice to have” approach. 

While the longer-term outlook is bright, LiveTiles was aware at the start of the pandemic that the lockdown may reduce its cash runway. It wanted to be unquestionably financially stable during and after the pandemic. The company substantially reduced headcount in order to reduce cash burn. This and other initiatives have resulted in $18 million in annualised cost savings. 

What’s next for LiveTiles? 

LiveTiles vision is to create the world’s foremost intranet software company. Coronavirus has thrown up both opportunities and challenges in the short term. While the global macroeconomic outlook remains highly uncertain, LiveTiles has elected to take a conservative position on cash burn. 

Nonetheless, LiveTiles believes COVID-19 will undoubtedly accelerate market adoption of digital workplace software. A recent survey of the US workforce showed 83% of employees were willing to work remotely compared to 37% pre-COVID-19. The company estimates it has a $15 billion market opportunity which remains in the early stages. It is increasingly optimistic about the external forces shaping its future. 

More reading

• ELMO Software and 2 other ASX growth companies see businesses adapt to a “new normal”

Kate O’Brien has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of LIVETILES FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended LIVETILES FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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